Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Rape of toddler sparks protests, clashes in Indian Kashmir

Thousands of people took to the streets of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday (13) to demand the death penalty for a man who raped a three-year-old girl, amid growing anger over sexual violence in the troubled Himalayan region.

Dozens of people were injured, most of them police, when officers fired tear gas and used batons to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators who had blocked part of a highway, police said in a statement.


The child's rape came weeks after the suicide of a girl who police say was repeatedly raped by her own father, and has intensified public concerns over sexual violence.

Shops, businesses and schools were also shut across the Muslim-majority region in response to a strike called by separatist cleric Moulana Masoor Abbas to protest the rape.

"We called for strike today to make people aware about growing incidents of rapes in the valley. We want justice for the victim," Abbas told reporters.

Police said the child was lured into an empty school by a neighbour and raped last Wednesday. Her mother followed her screams to find her bleeding inside a bathroom.

One person has been arrested over the attack.

Some protesters said they no longer had faith in authorities to keep women and girls safe, calling for those found guilty of such crimes to be given the death penalty.

"If the culprits of such crimes are hanged, then such incidents can come down," protester Nafia Khursheed told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Authorities appealed for calm after the protests, which followed a pledge by Muslim clerics in the region to dedicate their Ramadan sermons to women's rights.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), a council of Muslim religious leaders and scholars, said they wanted to address what they said was a rise in sexual violence in the region.

Crimes against women jumped 8% to 3,168 cases in 2017 from 2,915 the previous year, according to government figures.

Last year, nationwide protests flared over the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Jammu and Kashmir state, prompting the federal government to introduce the death penalty for rapists of girls under the age of 12.

The outrage drew parallels with massive protests that followed the gang rape and murder of a woman on a Delhi bus in 2012, which led to tough new rape laws.

More For You

Chemmani Sri Lanka

The gravesite is one of dozens unearthed across the country. (Photo: X)

x

Child’s remains found in Sri Lanka’s Chemmani mass grave

THE skeletal remains of a girl aged between four and five have been identified among 65 sets of human remains exhumed from a mass grave in Sri Lanka’s Jaffna district. The site first came into focus during the LTTE conflict in the mid-1990s.

“The findings of the excavation at the Chemmani mass grave were reported to the Jaffna Magistrate’s Court on on Tuesday (15) by Raj Somadeva, a forensic archaeologist overseeing the exhumation,” Jeganathan Tathparan, a lawyer, said on Thursday (17).

Keep ReadingShow less
Aakash Odedra Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist

Aakash Odedra recently won Best Male Dancer and Outstanding Male Classical Performance at the National Dance Awards.

getty images

Aakash Odedra named Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist

AAKASH ODEDRA has been appointed a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, the organisation has announced.

Born in Birmingham and based in Leicester, Odedra is known for combining classical and contemporary dance to reflect British Asian experiences.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trump

Trump’s administration has been working on trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline, when duties on most US imports are scheduled to rise again. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Trump says trade deal with India ‘very close’

THE US is very close to finalising a trade agreement with India, while a deal with the European Union is also possible, president Donald Trump said in an interview aired on Real America's Voice on Wednesday. However, he said it was too soon to tell if an agreement could be reached with Canada.

Trump’s administration has been working on trade deals ahead of an August 1 deadline, when duties on most US imports are scheduled to rise again. The push is part of efforts to secure what Trump considers better trade terms and reduce the large US trade deficit.

Keep ReadingShow less
Bengaluru stampede

The incident occurred when hundreds of thousands gathered to celebrate with the RCB team after their IPL final win against Punjab Kings. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

State govt report blames RCB, DNA Networks and KSCA for Bengaluru stampede

A STATUS report submitted to the Karnataka High Court on the stampede at Bengaluru’s Chinnaswamy Stadium, which left 11 people dead, has blamed Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), their event management partner DNA Networks Pvt Ltd, and the Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) for organising the June 4 victory parade and celebration without permission or providing mandatory details to city authorities.

Government sources confirmed to PTI that the report has been submitted to the court.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK to lower voting age to 16

Voters go to the polls as local elections are held in England on May 01, 2025 in Hull, England.

Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

UK to lower voting age to 16 in electoral shake-up

THE government said on Thursday (17) it planned to give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote in all UK elections in a major overhaul of the country's democratic system.

The government said the proposed changes were part of an effort to boost public trust in democracy and would align voting rights across Britain, where younger voters already participate in devolved elections in Scotland and Wales.

Keep ReadingShow less